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im getting sick and I have a newborn WHAT THE HELL DO I DO??

what do I do?? I don't want to make her sick, she is 2 weeks old. What the hell do you do when the people who take care of the baby are the sick ones?? How am I supposed to not be around her??? I just lost my health insurance and I apply for medicaid for her tmw... I can't afford to take her to the doctor, ugh.

What kind of sick? I started getting sick yesterday and took a cold pill, vit c, zinc, ate chicken soup, drank hot tea and put vick's salve in my nose. I was miserable when I went to bed but I'm fine now so maybe it's something you can take care of quickly. Some dr offices have face masks in the waiting room for free bc of the swine flu. If you can't get one of those then put a kleenex over your face and nose when changing the baby. Make sure you wash your hands really good when feeding the baby too.

Keep trying to get on medicaid, if anything go to the emergency room, you can set up payments, but when a baby gets sick there isn't really anything doctors do, just rest wash your hands and try not to get in babies face. I'm sick too and have a 1 year old, she has a runny nose, but no other symptoms I've been giving her infant tylenol to make sure she doesn't get a fever.

Answer by
Anonymous
at 12:00 PM on Sep. 22, 2009

You're not supposed to not be around her. By the time you're showing symptoms, she's already been completely exposed, so anything you do to help her avoid you will just stress her (because you'll have disappeared --2 week old babies do not understand that mom exists as a separate person much less when she's not visible or within reach).

The good thing about nursing is that you and baby can be tucked up in bed, and taken care of by loving friends and family. No one needs to feed the baby otherwise, they just need to make sure you're eating and drinking and staying comfortable. If you're feverish, someone should ensure that you're not sleeping alone with the baby (as in: make sure someone else is in the room while you're sleeping), but otherwise stay in bed, nurse lots and get better.